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Ongoing professional development can help teachers maintain effectiveness and close the achievement gap among diverse populations of students in Utah, lawmakers heard during a meeting Wednesday. Beth Foley, dean of the Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services at Utah State University, told lawmakers that more programs offer training for teachers of English-language learners. Speaking for the Utah Council of Education Deans, Foley also said there is no optimum amount of professional development for teachers but said her own position requires 40 hours of training annually.

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Ongoing professional development can help teachers maintain effectiveness and close the achievement gap among diverse populations of students in Utah, lawmakers heard during a meeting Wednesday. Beth Foley, dean of the Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services at Utah State University, told lawmakers that more programs offer training for teachers of English-language learners. Speaking for the Utah Council of Education Deans, Foley also said there is no optimum amount of professional development for teachers but said her own position requires 40 hours of training annually.

As Kansas transitions to standardized tests aligned with the Common Core State Standards, officials are considering a proposal that would allow school districts to choose from various tests for some or all of their students. If the federal government approved the move, districts in the state could choose to test students using the ACT or SAT instead of state exams depending on the needs of students, officials said.

Delaware Gov. Jack Markell and the College Board have collaborated on a program to help high-achieving, low-income students apply to top colleges, including Ivy League universities. The program, funded by the College Board, will supply what is expected to be a small number of high-school seniors in the state with information about colleges along with waivers covering application fees. Top colleges also will include letters saying the students are candidates for admission.

Middle-grade educator Bill Ferriter offers three recommendations for teachers interested in creating classroom blogs, including links to his classroom materials. Ferriter writes in this blog post that, among other things, all students should contribute to a single classroom blog, read and comment on other blogs to learn about other writing styles and to generate ideas for their own posts.

Richmond, Va., public schools will receive up to $7 million to help the district recruit and retain National Board Certified Teachers and reward the best teachers with $7,500 bonuses. The grant is part of an award from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, which received $27 million in federal grant funding for teacher-incentive programs. The grant "will allow the district to expand and enhance our professional-development and teacher-mentor training programs so we may continue our ongoing pattern of improved student achievement," Richmond's superintendent said.